Turkey: Former mayor in Antalya given 75 years in jail on graft charges

Süleyman Yılmaz, the former mayor of the Çalkaya district in Antalya province, has been sentenced to more than 75 years in prison on charges of corruption.

An Antalya court sentenced former Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) Mayor Yılmaz to 75 years, two months and 15 days in prison in the 19th hearing held on Tuesday, bringing to a close the 14-year trial. Another official from the Çalkaya Municipality, Neriman Çoban, was sentenced to 55 years and two months in prison in the same trial, while a municipal engineer was sentenced to 18 years, seven months and 15 days in prison.

The trial began after the Interior Ministry launched an administrative investigation into corruption allegations in the Çalkaya Municipality in 2000.